by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
Professional sports is in dire need of a face lift.
Unfortunately, no public relations firm can perform this "Extreme Makeover."
Whether you've picked up the latest issue of Sports Illustrated or simply turned on CNN, it seems that controversy and scandal are plaguing the world of professional sports. Everywhere sports fans turn, they are bombarded with news stories of professional athletes using performance-enhancing drugs, participating in illegal gambling and committing criminal acts that tarnish the face of professional sports worldwide.
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I'm sure most sports fans have heard something about Michael Vick's dog-fighting scandal, Tim Donaghy's insider-betting charges and Barry Bonds' performance-enhancing substance rumors. The NFL, NBA and MLB are all experiencing public relations nightmares right now because of them. But the high-profile sports are not the only ones facing these issues.
If you recall, the 2007 Tour de France - cycling's most
prestigious event - was dubbed the "Tour of Shame" by Parisian newspapers when two teams, four stage winners and the overall leader quit amid rumors of blood doping. The 2006 winner, Floyd Landis, is also under investigation for doping charges.
In June, the International Olympic Committee fined the Austrian Olympic Committee $1 million over a cross country skiing blood-doping scandal during the 2006 Torino Olympic Games.
In the world of figure skating, a new scoring system was recently put into effect to attempt to weed out judging biases stemming from the highly publicized 2002 Winter Olympic Games scandal involving Canadian and Russian pairs teams.
In 2006, 26 Italian soccer officials and four clubs were indicted on charges of match-fixing and violating the sport's requirements for honesty and fair play.
Even the sport of tennis isn't without its own cloud of suspicion. Since mid-July, players have been the target of anonymous phone calls in which they are asked to influence the outcome of their matches for cash payment, according to Association of Tennis Professionals doubles star Bob Bryan.
Something is desperately wrong with professional sports across the board, not just football, basketball and baseball.
The bottom line - the problem has to be solved, and fast.
If Kobe Bryant admits to adultery and Jose Canseco gets juiced, but neither gets more than a slap on the wrist as punishment, what's to stop the next guy from pulling similar stunts?
The only way professional sports can even hope of cleaning up its image is to clean up its act. For athletes and officials caught in these scandals, fines must be raised and sanctions must be heavily enforced.
Professional sporting leagues can no longer turn a blind eye to the serious problems that are casting a shadow on the integrity of their sports.
If good ol' Pete Rose was banned for life from the MLB back in 1989 for betting on his team to win, I'm surprised the MLB has yet to enforce the death penalty for some of the disgraces that have happened recently.
